Portadown born TV star Gloria Hunniford ‘thrilled’ at being awarded Freedom of the Borough of Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon

Also well known for her charity work, Gloria has been given the award as an ‘excellent ambassador and advocate for the borough’.

In an email to Cllr Margaret Tinsley, who brought forward the motion, Gloria said: “Words cannot describe how thrilled and surprised I was to hear about this wonderful accolade.

“I was born and brought up in Portadown and my life revolved around the entire borough.

“No matter where I am in the world I always think of that whole area so fondly and proudly as my home.

“I would like to send enormous thanks to all of those who so kindly sanctioned this great honour which I will always treasure.”

The Motion brought by DUP Cllrs Tinsley and Sidney Anderson stated: “That this Council confers the Freedom of the Borough of Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon to Mrs Gloria Hunniford OBE in recognition of her outstanding television and radio broadcasting achievements and contribution to cancer charities and services.

This conferment is also to recognise that Gloria is an excellent ambassador and advocate for this borough.”

Gloria, who is now 81, has been a presenter on TV and radio spanning the BBC and ITV on shows such as Rip Off Britain and as a panellist on Loose Women. She is also a regular on This Morning and The One Show.

She started out in her early days in Portadown as a singer in the 1960s before moving to UTV.

Cllr Tinsley said she had followed Gloria’s career for many years.

“Born in a terraced house on the Armagh Road in Portadown, Gloria attended Church Street Primary School, before moving on to Portadown College, where she attended with Dame Mary Peters, another outstanding lady of achievement and Freeman of Lisburn CC.

“She grew up in what she described as a loving home, her father worked in the local newspaper and was a part time magician and when she was a child she would go to the venues with her dad and she believed this sparked her initial love of entertainment. As a child she was a great singer, she sang in Portadown College choir, but when she turned 17 she had the opportunity to go with a family member to Canada and this enhanced her singing career on radio. But there is no place like home and she returned to NI, where she saw a position for production assistant in Ulster television, she applied and was successful and offered the post. Her future husband was a camera man on this show and she married him and had three beautiful children whilst she still continued to sing at night…

“She made a record, which made it to Number 7 and was invited to discuss this on a radio programme, during which the producer interviewed her and offered her a job with the BBC as a radio broadcaster. This was a remarkable achievement within a male dominated environment.

“Television expanded and Gloria continued to do radio during the day and television when the opportunities arose, reporting on many horrendous events of the troubles.

“UTV were expanding their news programme and wanted to broadcast on events outside of the troubles. Head of programmes contacted Gloria and she made the move to where I remember her best presenting Good Evening Ulster and interviewing many famous celebrities.

“Gloria once said that everything she does in her life now was all based on what she learnt in NI, it taught her well and gave her a great grounding for her future career on the mainland.

“On an occasion when she was in England she called into BBC Radio 2 for a cup of tea and a chat with the radio controller. Approximately a year later she was presenting the 12-2pm slot. Sounds easy, but what an achievement.

“She left NI for London with her family, with utter determination and self-belief. Her radio show was highly successful and during this time, she was then asked to do a chat show called Sunday Sunday, interviewing many Hollywood actors including James Stewart, Audrey Hepburn and one of my all-time favourite actresses Doris Day.

“Even though Gloria had tremendous career success, being a mum to her two sons Michael and Paul and daughter Caron were always her priority. They too each went on to have very successful careers, and I remember being friendly with Gloria’s niece and her telling me about what it was like to be on the Blue Peter set where Caron was presenting. I cannot deny how envious I was.

“Like must mothers, the closeness and love for your daughter is indescribable, and Gloria and Caron were no exception. Caron was so beautiful, I remember buying the Hello magazine every week and Caron was a regular feature covering her career, her wedding and the birth of her two sons.

“Following the birth of Caron’s second son, she found a lump on her breast and was given the diagnosis of breast cancer and tragically past away at the age of 41. It was so sad, and many years later I too lost three friends between the ages of 39-41 to the same illness.

“Gloria was heartbroken and as a mother you wonder how you will come through this.

“Although heartbroken, Gloria wanted to do something positive in memory of Caron and help others and she set up a charity the Caron Keating Foundation. The foundation has made a considerable difference to many individuals and families affected and dealing with cancer.

“Back in 2008, the NI Charity for Children with Cancer was the first in the UK to receive a grant from the Caron Keating foundation. The charity was awarded £20,000 towards the building of a new log cabin at Shimna Valley in Newcastle. This cabin was to be used for up to 16 teenagers as a place to stay during their illness. This facility was in addition to the holiday homes already there that accommodated children with cancer and their families. The charity said they were honoured that Gloria chose a charity from home to be the first recipient of the Caron Keating Foundation.

“Gloria officially launched the Action Cancer Big Bus at Hillsborough Castle, in 2006, which delivers free lifesaving breast screening and health checks across NI, and I know personally of individuals whose lives have been saved because they went a for check up on the bus but would not have gone to the doctor.

“Back in 2017, Gloria was listed on the Queen’s Birthday Honours list and was awarded the OBE for services to Cancer and Cancer Charities, our own Portadown Times reporter Victor Gordon, (who has since passed away), reported: “Its only right that bubbly Portadown born Gloria should be moved up the scale to receive her first and overdue award.”

“Recently Gloria said she never wants to retire, she is still blessed to enjoy good health, a very active life and an ongoing career in television, including being a regular panellist on Loose Women and presenting on Rip off Britain.

“One of her close broadcasting colleagues recently said that Gloria has been the number one broadcaster NI ever produced and how proud they were of everything she has achieved.”